NU gives thumbs-down to quality hallmark

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THE prestige of the Cat standard, the government hallmark of quality for financial products, has been dealt a severe blow after the country’s biggest life insurer ditched the label for the bulk of its investment funds.

Norwich Union announced this week that it was dropping the Catmark on eight actively managed investment funds because the 1 per cent ceiling on charges meant that it could not afford to run and distribute the products. The standard, it said, was “uneconomic”.

The life insurer, which ranked among the top five sellers of tax-efficient individual savings accounts (Isas) last year, said that it